The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1887-05-26
N
Not Journals of the Celestial Empire,
but OF California.

well as their clerks and book keepers
can read and write the English Ian
guage, and quite q number of them arr
subscribers to the daily papers.
That those, however, who are not SC
gifted may have an opportunity Of
knowing what is transporting in the busy
world, there are at the present time
four newspapers printed in Chinese
characters regularly published in
Francisco. They are all issued weekly
and have an average circulation of 2, SOC
copies. The majority of these papers
are sent into the interior of this state,
to Washington territory, British Column
bia, and the Sandwich islands. Only
about one-fifth of the whole number is
taken in this city. The subscription
price of each is $3.50 per annum, deliv-
cred by carriers in the city, and So a
year if sent through the mails TO the
country or abroad.
The oldest paper of the quartet is The
Recorder, published by Nun Kee & Co.
1t has been in existence eighteen years.
and has a subscription list of $50. of
which eighty are delivered in the city
and the remainder mailed to the inte-
rior. Nun Kee, its first editor and pro-
prietor, mace Il fortune out Of The Re
corder. Selling out three years ago,
he returned to China to spend his de-
clining years. The Oriental is pub
lished by Wah Kee & Co. 1t has been
in existence five years, and has a circu-
lation of about 400 The Weekly Occi-
dental is now in its fourth year, and
Horn Hong & CO., its proprietors,
claim that it is the 'live' paper and
has the largest circulation. 1t has 200
city subscribers and 800 in the country.
Cum Shoe, its translator and reporter.
is well educated in English and Chi
nese, and nothing of interest occurs in
the Chinese quarter that he does not
report for the paper which he repre-
sents.
The staff of a Chinese newspaper
consists usually of four persons-viz.:
in editor, a sub-editor, Il translator,
and a printer OF pressman. The ed
tor and sub-editor are generally the
proprietors, and each usually edits one
half the paper. The translator is a
most important person. His duties are
to pick up news around the Chinese
quarters, and read carefully the Ameri-
can daily papers. From these he culls
the market reports, accounts of out
RACES on Chinese, the passage of any
laws or ordinances particularly affect
ing the Chinese, and any other item
which he thinks will interest his coun-
5rymen. These he translates into Chi
nese characters, and hands them to the
editor for insertion.
The editors copy the characters so
supplied them with the ordinary Chi
aese pen and specially prepared ink on
what is called transfer paper. The
sheet of transfer paper is the same size
as the paper to be printed. When the
editor has his sheet of transfer paper
Tiled with characters his labor is done,
and he hands the paper over to the
printer.
This functionary has q photographic !
stone already prepared, and to 1t he
transfers the characters on the paper.
After setting the ink on the stone
with nitric acid and gum be isready for
printing. After passing a wet sponge
over the stone he rolls over it an ink
roller, the ink from which only adheres
10 the written characters. He then LAYS
the sheet of paper to be printed on the
stone, placing on top of it Il metal
cover. An iron bar is now placed
across this cover and frightened down by
i lever worked by the foot of the oper-
The frame on which the stone is
set is then, by means of a strap and pull
worked by the printer, made to
slide under the bar It's whole length.
The pressure of the bar on the cover
the impression of the linked char
acters to be transferred from the stone
the paper. The process is repeated
until the required number of copies is
Then the stone is cleaned off
md smoothed down, and the characters
or the other side of the paper are trans
erred to it, and the printing of the
'ther side Of the printed sheets COM
One side only OF a paper can
'e printed at a time. A smart printer
an print ~ side of four hundred
heets in an ordinary working day.
i've working days are required to get
'ut al edition of thousand.
The american and Chinese CONNER
iat News, the latest aspirant for jour
Ialistic honors among the Chinese, was
by Suey Kee & Co. a little over
hree years ago. It's proprietors in
ended to revolutionize the Chinese
ewspaper business in this city. and en-
aged a large staff of reporters. etc.
hair rr- bnuror-ar u-o 49, - --z